Local Man Arrested After Hopping in Bed of Stranger’s Pickup Truck in Boca, Refusing to Leave

Robert John Gormley (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A Boynton Beach man, allegedly carrying a meat cleaver, hitched an unsolicited ride in a stranger’s pickup truck and refused to get out despite having traveled into the next town, police charged.

Boca Raton police made the arrest in Deerfield Beach after the pickup truck was stopped by Broward County sheriff’s deputies following a call from the driver. The incident occurred Feb. 22, 2025, however the suspect, identified as Robert John Gormley, 30, was arrested Dec. 19, 2025 and released on bond the following day.

According to the report, the driver called police stating that he was driving home from a friend’s house in Boca Raton when a man he had never seen before “approached the front of his vehicle and began to yell at him” in an attempt to get him to stop. The man, later identified as Gormley, allegedly placed his hands on the victim’s truck, at which point the driver was forced to stop in order to avoid hitting him. The man then went to the back of the truck, at which point the driver attempted to leave, but before he could do so the man grabbed onto the back. Once again, fearing the man would get hurt, the victim stopped the vehicle, only to see the man hopping in the bed of the pickup.

The report states the driver opened the rear window of the truck in an attempt to speak with the man and tell him to leave, but he refused, instead yelling at the driver, “You’re going to jail.”

Gormley allegedly told police he believed the driver had stolen phones from an Airbnb, however there was no evidence of stolen property, nor could he explain how he knew the man or where the supposed Airbnb was located. Gormley also told police the man had tried to run him over, however officers noted it was Gormley who jumped into the bed of the pickup. Police also asked Gormley why he allegedly had a knife described as a “meat cleaver” in his possession, to which he replied that he was wearing a friend’s sweatshirt and the knife was inside. Police also claim to have found a crack pipe in the pocket of the sweatshirt.

Gormley was charged with trespassing of an occupied vehicle as well as criminal mischief for damage he alleged caused to the truck, and was lodged in the Palm Beach County Jail before being released on $1,250 combined bail for both charges.